Graham Stuart is encouraging broadband users in Beverley and Holderness to express their views on how the service can be improved direct to the regulator Ofcom via the #FixBritainsInternet campaign.
Ofcom is currently holding a public consultation on how to reform Openreach, which operates the under-performing national broadband network. Options on the table include separating Openreach from its parent company BT – something Graham has been campaigning for in a bid to raise standards.
Despite Openreach receiving billions from other broadband providers and taxpayer subsidy, around 5.7 million people in the UK have internet connections that still do not reach Ofcom’s minimum speed of 10Mbps, of whom 3.5 million live in rural areas like Beverley and Holderness.
Graham said: “Decent broadband access is a key utility for modern homes and businesses yet Openreach has failed people in areas like the East Riding for far too long. Earlier this year I joined over one hundred fellow MPs in calling for Openreach to become an independent company rather than an arm of BT, with a view to opening up the fusty broadband market to the fresh air of proper competition. I believe this would be in both the national and the consumer interest.
“The #FixBritainsInternet campaign is now allowing residents and businesses in Beverley and Holderness to have their say on what they think should happen. You can tell Ofcom what you think by going to http://www.fixbritainsinternet.co.uk/page/speakout/fix-britains-internet and I hope lots of people will take five minutes to do so – it could save them a lot of time in the future.”
